PURPOSE: Combination therapy with ezetimibe and statins is recommended in cases of statin intolerance or insufficiency. The objective of this study was to compare the efficacy and safety of combination therapy with ezetimibe and rosuvastatin versus those of rosuvastatin monotherapy in patients with hypercholesterolemia. METHODS: I-ROSETTE (Ildong ROSuvastatin & ezETimibe for hypercholesTElolemia) was an 8-week, double-blind, multicenter, Phase III randomized controlled trial conducted at 20 hospitals in the Republic of Korea...

Three new sulfated steroidal glycosides ( 3 - 5 ), along with known cholesterol derivatives ( 1 , 2 ), were isolated from the visceral extract of the cone snail Conus pulicarius . The structure of each new compound was elucidated by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and high-resolution mass spectrometry. The three new compounds exhibited significant in vitro cytotoxicity (GI50 values down to 0.49 μM) against the K562 human leukemia cell line.

Orostachys japonicus A. Berger (), known as Wa-song in Korea, has been reported to exert various biological effects, such as anti-tumor, anti-oxidant, and anti-febrile effects. However, the anti-angiogenic effects of O. japonicus extracts remain to be investigated. In the present study, we demonstrated the anti-angiogenic effects of bioconverted O. japonicus extract (BOE) in Ms-1 mouse endothelial cells and compared them with the bioactivities of O. japonicus extract (OE). BOE, but not OE, were found to exert anti-angiogenic effects, including inhibition of cell migration, cell adhesion, tube formation of Ms-1 cells, and blood vessel formation of matrigel plug assay in vivo...

Enzyme fermentation is a type of food processing technique generally used to improve the biological activities of food and herbal medicines. In this study, the Syzygium aromaticum (clove) extract was fermented using laccase derived from Trametes versicolor (LTV). The fermented clove extract showed greater neuroprotective effects against glutamate toxicity on HT22 than the non-fermented extract did. HPLC analysis revealed that eugenol (1) and dehydrodieugenol (2) contents had decreased and increased, respectively, after fermentation...

Influenza virus is a common pathogen implicated in respiratory tract infections, annually affecting up to 20% of the general population, and pneumonia is a leading cause of death after influenza infection. Post-influenza pneumonia is especially common in the elderly and chronically ill patients. The risk of post-influenza pneumonia is significantly increased according to the number of concurrent comorbidities. Vaccination is the primary measure used to abate influenza epidemics and associated complications...

Polymyxin B (PmB) is a "last-line" antibiotic scarcely used due to its nephrotoxicity. However, the molecular basis for antibiotic nephrotoxicity is not clearly understood. We prepared kidney membrane analogs of detergent-susceptible membranes, depleted of cholesterol, and cholesterol enriched, resistant membranes. In both analogs, PmB led to membrane damage. By combining x-ray diffraction, molecular dynamics simulations, and electrochemistry, we present evidence for two populations of PmB molecules: peptides that lie flat on the membranes, and an inserted state...

This paper develops a likelihood-based approach to analyze quantile regression (QR) models for continuous longitudinal data via the asymmetric Laplace distribution (ALD). Compared to the conventional mean regression approach, QR can characterize the entire conditional distribution of the outcome variable and is more robust to the presence of outliers and misspecification of the error distribution. Exploiting the nice hierarchical representation of the ALD, our classical approach follows a Stochastic Approximation of the EM (SAEM) algorithm in deriving exact maximum likelihood estimates of the fixed-effects and variance components...

Pneumonia is a leading cause of hospitalization and mortality worldwide. Despite recognition of the importance of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in adults, limited epidemiologic information is available in South Korea. This study aimed to evaluate the disease burden of hospitalized CAP in adults aged ≥19 years and its epidemiologic trend using Health Insurance and Review Assessment (HIRA) data.This is a retrospective study using the HIRA database from year 2009 to 2013. We estimated the incidence rate and direct medical cost of hospitalized CAP in adults aged ≥19 years in South Korea...

PURPOSE: The goal of this study was to compare the efficacy and safety of fixed-dose combinations of amlodipine/losartan potassium/chlorthalidone (A/L/C) and A/L in Korean patients with stage 2 hypertension inadequately controlled by A/L. METHODS: This study was an 8-week, randomized double-blind, multicenter, phase III clinical trial. Three hundred forty volunteer patients with stage 2 hypertension were randomized to receive A/L/C or A/L. The primary end point was a change in sitting systolic blood pressure (SitSBP) after 8 weeks of treatment...

Ruthenium oxide (RuO2) is the best oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalyst. Herein, we demonstrated that RuO2 can be also efficiently used as an oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalyst, thereby serving as a bifunctional material for rechargeable Zn-air batteries. We found two forms of RuO2 (i.e. hydrous and anhydrous, respectively h-RuO2 and ah-RuO2) to show different ORR and OER electrocatalytic characteristics. Thus, h-RuO2 required large ORR overpotentials, although it completed the ORR via a 4e process...

BACKGROUND: Nevus of Ota (NO) is a relatively common pigmentary disorder in Asians. Tanino's classification is an old but tacit consensus to delineate the disease. Various treatment options have been presented. However, a few studies have been conducted on available laser options and current treatment strategies or the classification of NO. OBJECTIVE: To investigate current laser options and their effectiveness for the treatment of NO, contributing factors to clinical outcomes, and verification of classification...

BACKGROUND: Low fluence 1,064 nm Q-switched (QS) Neodymium:Yttrium-Aluminum-Garnet (Nd:YAG) laser treatment, also known as laser toning, is widely used for pigmentary disorders. There has been no reliable evaluation of the effect of low fluence 1,064 nm QS Nd:YAG laser for senile lentigo. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the beneficial effect of low fluence 1,064 nm QS Nd:YAG laser in the treatment of senile lentigo on the face. METHODS: A retrospective review was conducted on patients treated only with repetitive low fluence 1,064 nm QS Nd:YAG laser...

BACKGROUND: Symptomatic or significant vascular lesions of Takayasu arteritis (TA) need interventions. Although percutaneous transluminal angioplasty with balloon is a less invasive and safe method, stent implantation in TA can be an alternative option. However, superiority between balloon angioplasty and stenting in TA is not conclusive. METHODS: A meta-analysis comparing balloon angioplasty and stenting outcomes was performed using the MEDLINE and EMBASE databases...